


Leave me alone, I'm lonely.

by JungleKarmaPippa



Category: Power Rangers Jungle Fury
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-04 20:25:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11562696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JungleKarmaPippa/pseuds/JungleKarmaPippa
Summary: RJ really likes his students. But he likes them so much more when they're not there.





	Leave me alone, I'm lonely.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by P!nk's "Leave me alone (I'm lonely)".

RJ lay on his bed, wearing the sweatpants he used to sleep and nothing else. He glanced at the clock, wondering if it was late enough to go get a drink in the kitchen without finding anybody else in the loft.

He sighed. It was only one. At least Dom was bound to still be awake.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like his students, and of course, Dom had been his friend for a long time, it was that he missed having the loft all to himself. Dancing foolishly to relieve stress after a long day at the restaurant, watching TV in his underwear. Taking long hot showers because he had all the hot water for himself. Walking out of his room completely naked to get a drink in the middle of a hot night.

That had been a thing the first night Casey, Theo and Lily had spent there. He had been so tired, and it had been such a hot night, he had gotten in bed completely naked -the way he would live his entire life if he were allowed, to be honest- and in what he thought was the middle of the night, he had gotten up half asleep to get something to drink because he had been sweating so much.

And Casey, Theo and- oh, the horror- Lily had been sitting in the training area, still talking about their first day as Power Rangers. He hadn’t seen or heard them, presumably because he had been so exhausted, and had made all his way to the fridge, grabbed the drink and had turned around as he opened it to find them there, fighting back giggles.

“This is definitely not the most dignified a Pai Zhua Master can get,” he had joked to try to hide his absolute embarrassment. 

To his surprise, it had been Lily who had rescued him: “Well, we are intruding in your home.”

“And we should be in bed already,” Casey had added, guiding his team mates to their rooms, so RJ could remain hidden behind the kitchen counter.

He sighed. He really did like them. They were nice and fun, they worked hard both in their training and the parlor, but the problem was they were always there.

Always.

No matter the hour, the day of the week or what RJ was doing or wanted to do, there was always at least one of them around. He only had some level of privacy in his bedroom and even that was relative.

He remembered the day he had freed the other Masters from Dai Shi, it had been one of those 48-hours-long days and what he genuinely wanted was to take a really long shower and sleep for a long uninterrupted time.

“I’m going to use all the hot water,” he announced before getting in the bathroom and opening the shower. Nobody had made any objections to his announcement and he had taken his training gear off and had gotten under the hot stream.

He had been carefully washing his hair, his silky locks didn’t keep themselves silky, when, without any warning, Dom had opened the door to the bathroom.

“RJ!”

“This is a joke…” RJ had groaned.

“We have a problem with the parlor.”

“Is it on fire?” RJ had asked in despair.

“No, but–”

“Then Casey’s in charge! Have him solve it!”

He must have sounded really desperate, because Dom’s reaction was to pull back the shower curtain and look at his face. “Are you feeling alright?”

“I spent all night up rigging a weapon I created to possibly kill my father, my favorite Master or another Master who is a legend at the Pai Zhua. Then spent all morning thinking I had in fact made my students kill my father with very little emotional support, by the way, then rescued my father, then fought my way through Dai Shi’s lair to rescue the other Masters, had to unleash my animal spirit on DaiShi for the second time and THEN had to come back to fight a Rin Shi,” he had recounted in a single breath. “No, Dom, I am not okay. I’m tired and I–” He had sighed as he rinsed his hair. “I just need to sleep.”

“Hey, man, about the moral support…”

“Dom, I’m in the shower…”

“We were just trying to give you some space.”

“That would be a first,” he had muttered bitterly. He had looked at Dom, who was still looking into the shower stall and sighed. “How about giving me some space now, that I’m in the shower?”

Dom had seemed to realize he was indeed invading RJ’s privacy. “Sorry, we’ll talk later.”

“I really need that space right now,” RJ had said as softly as he could, but he had been unable hide to himself that he was annoyed by the intrusion.

He had gotten out of the shower when the hot water had effectively been used up, had dried himself, put on a pair of slacks and a tank top and had walked out of the bathroom, drying his hair with the towel.

He had thought he’d make himself a cup of tea before hitting the sack but when he had looked up at the kitchenette area, they had all been there, seemingly waiting for him.

He had taken a deep breath and it had taken every bit of self-control he had not to roll his eyes. He had walked up to them and had hung the towel to dry on the rail.

“I’m going to make myself a cup of tea,” he had told them and had proceeded to fill the kettle and plug it in, since it was electric because he didn’t really install a stove in the loft. They had stood there, looking at him as if he was performing some sort of magic trick.

Finally Casey spoke. “I think we’re out of tea, actually.”

RJ had almost -almost- banged his fists against the counter. They had drunk all his tea again?!

“Well,” he had said, emptying the kettle in the sink. “There goes that.”

“We can go buy more,” Lily had offered, pointing at herself and Theo.

“No, I’ll just go to bed,” RJ had whispered. “The lack of sleep is making me cranky.”

But it hadn’t been the lack of sleep. It had been their presence, their constant presence. They were always there, there was no getting away from them.

In fact, he had been sound asleep when he had heard the door to his room open -why had he even bothered with the Swoop Technique in the first place? It made him a very light sleeper- and had opened one eye to see Casey walking in with his freshly washed laundry. He had been equal parts amazed, amused and annoyed that the cub had taken his time to fold all of RJ’s clothes and put them in the closet.

He had gone back to sleep and was in the sweetest, deepest part of his sleep when he had felt a soft hand shaking his shoulder.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” he had growled uncharacteristically, opening his eyes to find Fran -Fran of all people- with a worried look on her face. “I’m sorry, Fran, what is it?”

“There’s a Rin Shi attack. The others need your help.” she had whispered and had walked out of the room looking hurt.

With a groan, he had gotten out of bed, had put on his training gear and had walked out to the main area, where Fran was monitoring the others and telling them RJ wouldn’t be long.

“Fran,” he had called. She had turned to look at him, her lips pursed. “I’m sorry about that, I was just really relaxed.”

“I really didn’t want to wake you, you know? I told the others to make do because you were really tired but they wouldn’t listen and this monster is really handing them their tails back and they really can’t seem to get it done with you, even thought you look very tired and obviously–”

“Breathe, Fran,” RJ had whispered and she had shut up. “Thanks but I’m well rested now, I can go help them.”

But that, the intrusion, the constant presence, the taking -because sometimes it felt like he was their father and all they ever did was take from him- was really getting on RJ's nerves.

And he didn't only feel annoyed, he felt lonely. How could he feel like he couldn’t have a single moment to himself and lonely at the same time was a mystery to him, but he felt like there was nobody he could talk to.

He didn’t want to burden Fran with his problems, and, truth be told, his rangers had a lot on their plates. He looked at his right forearm to remind himself he was the one with the stripes, so he was the one who was supposed to suck it up and keep things going, no matter what.

He sighed, wondering if he had to put on a shirt to go get a glass of water from his fridge in his kitchen in his loft, when a flash of golden light announced the arrival of Master Mao in his room.

Well, one more couldn’t hurt, he thought.

“Master,” he whispered, not sitting up and not bowing.

“Master.”

“What can I help you with?” RJ asked, looking at the ceiling.

“It seemed to me like you are the one who needs help, Wolf Master.”

“The name’s RJ.”

“RJ, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. They’re here, they’re safe, they’re getting stronger–”

“Good for them, what about you?”

“I’m doing what you asked me to do.”

“Not very happily, it would seem.”

Finally RJ sat up. “It’s not that it doesn’t make me happy to have them here, it does. It’s just, sometimes, they’re here too much, you know? I need some time alone, to recharge, to refocus, to get back in balance. And I have to meditate with them, do yoga with them, watch TV with them, and they pick the worst shows to watch, by the way, they drink my tea, they eat my chocolate cookies, they sit on my chair! and I told them specifically to never sit on my chair!”

“Master!” Mao stopped him raising a hand. “It seems it’s time for your students to spend a couple of days with their other masters.”

“What for?”

“So you can dance around your loft naked to your heart’s content,” Master Mao said, with a smirk he couldn’t hide. RJ chuckled.

“That’s a very nice sentiment, Master,” RJ said. “But what do I do with Fran? She won’t give me any space.”

“Fran, I’m afraid I can’t help you with.”

“It’s okay, Master,” RJ said, grabbing the shirt he kept by his bed. “I’ll get over myself. Besides, I know me, if I asked them to leave, I’d be begging for their presence in ten minutes flat.”

Mao smiled. “You are truly a remarkable master, RJ, and a great human being.”

“I only do my best. Now, I’m gonna get something to drink, the heat is unbearable.”

“Well, I know for a fact everybody else is asleep.”

With that Mao left and RJ smiled. He walked to the door of his room and craned his neck. Effectively everybody seemed to be asleep.

With a smile, he slid his pants off and walked to the fridge to grab a drink.

He leaned against the counter in the dark and sighed contently.

Maybe it was time he stopped thinking of the others as his students and started thinking about them as friends.

He took another sip with his eyes closed and heard footsteps walking towards the kitchen.

“You still do that?” Dom asked.

“Yep,” RJ answered, opening his eyes, to find Dom stark naked too, grabbing a drink from the fridge.

“Best feeling in the world, isn’t it?” Dom commented.

“One should have the right to be naked in one’s home.”

“I totally agree.”

They leaned against the counter, next to each other, completely naked under the scarce moonlight and finished their drinks.

“RJ,” Dom started when the Master threw away the container of his drink.

“Yeah?”

“You can talk to us. We will still respect you every bit as much if you reach out to us, you know? You don’t have to deal with everything alone.”

“I know, Dom,” RJ said and walked back to his room. He considered putting his pants back on but it was so hot.

He didn’t even notice when he fell asleep but a loud squeal made him jump out his sleep the following morning. 

“I DIDN’T KNOW YOU SLEPT NAKED!” Lily apologized, turning away from the bed.

RJ stared at her, she was covering her eyes in addition to being turned away from him, and he couldn’t help but laugh softly as he covered himself with a blanket.

This seemed to be the new normal.

And he would miss them when Dai Shi was defeated and they all left him.


End file.
